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[quote=""MLE""]Sorry, 20th C doesn't do it for me at all. I refuse to be labeled a living history exhibit unless I'm actually re-enacting something. [/quote]

I just thought it interesting when I received the Review - it's downstairs so I can't quote chapter and verse, that despite us all thinking the Tudors are rampaging all over everywhere, it only seems like it. Actually they're not according the HNS Review, where the majority of the reviews are for 19th and 20thC subjects. Earlier periods get a lot less of a look in.

[quote=""MLE""]Sorry, 20th C doesn't do it for me at all. I refuse to be labeled a living history exhibit unless I'm actually re-enacting something. [/quote]

Early 20th century interests me, pre-WWI and around the turn of the century. So much was happening during that period, it must have a very exciting time to be alive. Unless you're more than a 100 years old, I doubt that you need to worry about being a living history exhibit from that time period, LOL

From a genealogical point of view though, I am interested in more recent history - just not as HF.

[quote=""EC2""]I just thought it interesting when I received the Review - it's downstairs so I can't quote chapter and verse, that despite us all thinking the Tudors are rampaging all over everywhere, it only seems like it. Actually they're not according the HNS Review, where the majority of the reviews are for 19th and 20thC subjects. Earlier periods get a lot less of a look in.[/quote]

Interesting.

Right after Phillipa Gregory burst onto the scene thats pretty much all we were subjected to. TOBG and stuff like that. I'm all for reading different time periods, if those time periods can be found. I had a hell of a time trying to find Victorian Era novels, and the few I did find were pretty blah. Most everything right after TOBG was Tudor nonsense. And a lot of it. I think after my 10th tudor novel I protested and could read no more. Its been eh, three years maybe two since I read one. I just refuse. But because of that I've read less and less adult novels and more YA stuff, which seems to have a variety. Is sad, but I can't remember the last adult novel I read.

20th cent has never interested me save the 1920s. But I wonder if the turn of events has happened cause of Downton Abbey. Pure speculation on my part, of course.

I'm all for the Victorian Era though. Bring it on. Eh, let me say, bring it on without the mystery though. There are a lot of those books. Not a fan of the mystery novel.

Last edited by Divia on Thu November 22nd, 2012, 5:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I'd add to the list Martin Davies The Year Afterwhich actually was published in the year past and preceded the current trend by a bit. Davies always writes well, but this one didn't quite tug at my heartstrings like the haunting Unicorn Road, which is on my all-time favourites list.

And on the Tudor theme, I thought I was over all things Tudor, but I have to give a big thumbs up to Elizabeth Loupas' The Flower Reader, set during the early years of Mary QOS's reign. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Last edited by annis on Wed November 28th, 2012, 5:11 am, edited 3 times in total.

I agree there does seem to be a shift happening just now towards late 19th and early 20th century-based novels. I like to read all time period settings depending on my mood, so would prefer to see more of a mix out on the market, but I do think a focus on the late 19th-20th centuries could be an improvement on the recent Tudor fixation, simply because there will be more variety.

Most of the recent Tudor novels (or popular NF) that I've seen have been either based on Henry VIII's wives or Elizabeth I, again and again. I'm fed up with reading the same story, even with a slightly different theory on why things happened. There are plenty of other interesting personalities from that period that don't have much written about them, such as Henry's sister Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, Penelope Devereux, and so on - although as pointed out in the Forthcoming Books 2013 thread, we are getting one about Bess of Hardwick at last!

Anyway, I think if there is now a big focus on the late 19th/early 20th centuries, there will certainly be a much wider range of subjects and settings and little overlap, unless everyone sticks to the "upstairs/downstairs" theme!

And I, for one, will welcome any new Tudor fiction that doesn't focus on a king or queen

[quote=""annis""]I'd say the late 19th and early 20th centuries are definitely this year's "it" setting, and I'm quite sure that Downton Abbey is the reason- why miss a good bandwagon when you see one passing by?

I'd add to the list Martin Davies The Year Afterwhich actually was published in the year past and preceded the current trend by a bit. Davies always writes well, but this one didn't quite tug at my heartstrings like the haunting Unicorn Road, which is on my all-time favourites list.

And on the Tudor theme, I thought I was over all things Tudor, but I have to give a big thumbs up to Elizabeth Loupas' The Flower Reader, set during the early years of Mary QOS's reign. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.[/quote]

I'm looking forward to reading some of them, hopefully it won't become a glut. I did start Habits of the House yesterday (nice large font). It's not terribly *deep*, but an easy read. From looking at the promo stuff on the ARC I'm guessing this came about because the publisher wanted something, and not just happened to come about because the author had a story (hope that makes sense). The author bio says she wrote the first episode (or pilot episode) of Upstairs Downstairs. It does read a lot like a TV mini series on paper.

Most of the recent Tudor novels (or popular NF) that I've seen have been either based on Henry VIII's wives or Elizabeth I, again and again. I'm fed up with reading the same story, even with a slightly different theory on why things happened. There are plenty of other interesting personalities from that period that don't have much written about them...

... And I, for one, will welcome any new Tudor fiction that doesn't focus on a king or queen [/quote]

In line with the above comment I recommend "By What Authority?" by R.H. Benson, a superb and challenging novel dealing with the challenges facing two families, one Catholic, one Protestant, in the reign of Elizabeth I. The moral dilemmas involved are terrifying as regards their potential consequences and there are no easy solutions, no black and white divisions into good and bad. I found it a splendid and exciting read and though written a century ago has all the immediacy and pace one would expect from a good historical novel today.

[quote=""Lady of Bennachie""]There are plenty of other interesting personalities from that period that don't have much written about them, such as Henry's sister Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, Penelope Devereux, and so on -

...

And I, for one, will welcome any new Tudor fiction that doesn't focus on a king or queen [/quote]

I happen to share a surname with the author Charles Major, who wrote a charming romance about Brandon and Mary, "When Knighthood Was In Flower." The novel was a blockbuster in its day, and was made into a movie vehicle for Marion Davies, paramour of Hurst, charming comedienne, and not-quite-Hollywood's brightest early star. I read an illustrated edition on Gutenberg and actually enjoyed it very much! Sure, it's a bit steeped in some outmoded ideas about women and love, but part of any entertainment is to meet its terms, right?

"To be the queen, she agreed to be the widow!"

***

The pre-modern world was willing to attribute charisma to women well before it was willing to attribute sustained rationality to them.
---Medieval Kingship, Henry A. Myers